Sharks end perfect home
standDonskoi bags shutout winner in 3-2 decision
over Calgary

12/28/17 - By Mike Lee -

The NHL's Christmas Break came to an end on
Thursday night as the Sharks returned to the ice in a division match-up with
the Calgary Flames at SAP Center. San Jose treated the home fans to bonus
hockey by overcoming a 3rd period deficit, then delivered a late Christmas gift
with a win in the shootout to cap a 3-2 decision before a sellout crowd.

As the season is about to hit January, division and conference games
become more important as teams begin to jockey for the 8 playoff spots
available in the Western Conference. Calgary trailed the Sharks by 3 points
entering play, so a San Jose loss could have resulted in a paper thin margin in
the standings.

The win was the third in a row for San Jose, who have
also gone 6-2-2 over their last ten games, which is only second to Vegas in the
Pacific Division.

The Flames drew first blood, when Garnet Hathaway
slid a loose puck into a wide open net after Martin Jones went down to block a
shot and exposed the entire right side of the net. Defensemen Brent Burns and
Justin Braun slid to the left side to cover a Flames forward, leaving Hathaway
unguarded at the goal mouth. After fishing out the puck from under Jones' pad,
the deposit was simply a formality for Hathaway.

A Matt Stajan
interference penalty setup the suddenly potent Sharks power with a chance that
showed exactly why they've had a resurgence on special teams. San Jose moved
the puck at will through the Flames zone, and a Joe Thornton drop pass into the
slot ended with Joe Pavelski sniping a shot to the upper left corner for his
8th goal of the season.

Joonas Donskoi took an ill-advised tripping
penalty at 14:57, putting the Flames on the power play for the second time.
Matthew Tkachuk faked a shot from the right side and instead sent a pass to the
front of the net where Mikeal Backlund deflected it back door to put the Flames
right back on top. The goal was Backlund's 8th of the season.

Calgary
went into a prevent mode that was fueled by a constant stream of hits to any
Sharks skater that touched the puck. Each hit or clutch seemed to bog the
Sharks down, preventing them from stringing any orchestrated attacks together.

The Sharks would out-shoot the Flames 13-7 in the middle period, but
San Jose not score the equalizer. The Flames would simplify things with a pair
of penalties in the period, but the Sharks power play went into disarray after
looking so good on their initial chance in the opening period.

They
would get that equalizer 12 minutes into the 3rd period on a deflected shot
from the right side. Brent Burns unloaded on a shot from the right point,
before Timo Meier got his stick on it, deflecting it past Flames goaltender
David Rittich. Meier had a defender draped all over him, but he was able to not
only pick up the shot, but shed his defender and get his stick blade on the
Burns blast.

The overtime was about as entertaining as scoreless
overtime periods go, with both teams exchanging quality scoring chances that
could have been game enders had they connected. San Jose only mustered a single
shot in the extra period, but a Joe Thornton chance was the closest San Jose
would come to ending things in the period.

Thornton found himself on a
breakaway with just over a minute left, but he put his shot over the crossbar.
Johnny Gaudreau missed on a chance moments later.

In the shootout,
Pavelski opened thing with a goal that beat Rittich through the 5-hole. Sean
Monahan, Brent Burns and Mikeal Backlund followed with misses, setting up
Joonas Donskoi. The Sharks winger raced in on Rittich and dove left, before
cutting back to his right, deeking the Flames goaltender out of his pants
before depositing the puck around the left pad for the game winner.

Game Notes:

* The Sharks revealed that captain Joe Pavelski has
been dealing with a broken finger the past few weeks. They would not disclose
which hand or finger was affected, but there's no mystery in that Pavelski has
been dealing with an injury given his play through the first three months of
the season.

* San Jose owned Calgary in the faceoff circle, winning 34
of 58 draws for a 59% win percentage. Joel Ward won 7 of 10 and Tomas Hertl won
8 of 11 to lead San Jose.

* Calgary's game plan included lots of shots
to the body throughout the game. The Flames out-hit San Jose 28-11. That
approach seemed to have an effect on the Sharks, who couldn't string together
consistency in passing and puck control.

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